Frontiers in Art Research, 2025, 7(8); doi: 10.25236/FAR.2025.070814.
Li Wanxin1, Liang Tingting2
1School of Architecture and Art, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, China
2School of Architecture and Art, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, China
Driven by the national strategy of "integrating culture and tourism", the cultural and creative (CC) industry has stepped into a high-quality development stage. As the main force of contemporary cultural consumption, Gen Z has unique consumption characteristics such as emotional demand orientation, digital native attribute and strong cultural identity. Hangzhou West Lake, as a world cultural heritage with profound historical and cultural deposits, its traditional CC products are facing problems such as homogenized design, single expression form and lack of interactive experience, which are difficult to meet the personalized and emotional needs of Gen Z, thus restricting the effective inheritance and innovative communication of West Lake culture among young groups. Based on Donald Norman's three-level emotional design theory (visceral level, behavioral level and reflective level), this study explores the innovative design path of West Lake CC products for Gen Z. Through literature sorting, user demand analysis and case reference, this study constructs an emotional design framework for Gen Z-oriented West Lake CC products, and completes three sets of targeted design practices. The design fully integrates West Lake's cultural symbols with Gen Z's aesthetic and interactive needs, and deeply elaborates the design ideas from the aspects of visual expression, interactive mode and cultural embedding. This study enriches the application of emotional design theory in the field of cultural heritage-derived CC products, and provides practical reference for the youth-oriented transformation and upgrading of West Lake CC industry.
Gen Z, Emotional Design, West Lake Culture, Cultural and Creative Products, Interactive Design
Li Wanxin, Liang Tingting. Research on the Emotional Design of Hangzhou West Lake Cultural and Creative Products for Gen Z. Frontiers in Art Research (2025), Vol. 7, Issue 8: 93-97. https://doi.org/10.25236/FAR.2025.070814.
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